Chapter 295: To Sprinkle Salt on the Sugar

That evening.

Carlos was drinking with Vice Chairman Chen Zhihui and having a leisurely conversation.

“Vice Chairman Chen, when are you planning to return to China?”

Vice Chairman Chen Zhihui drained the alcohol remaining in his glass and answered Carlos’s question.

“As soon as I hand over the missiles imported from North Korea to you, I’ll return immediately.”

“So soon?”

“It seems I need to settle everything before that bastard Vice Chairman Wei Chen consolidates his position.”

“Will you be able to eliminate him?”

“Why ask something so obvious?”

Carlos flinched at once.

There was a sharp, prickly threat in Vice Chairman Chen Zhihui’s voice as he answered.

“Vice Chairman Chen, let’s pretend I never asked that last question.”

“As you wish.”

“When you take the position of head of the Triad, make sure you keep the promise you made me.”

Vice Chairman Chen Zhihui understood perfectly well what Carlos was implying.

He had supplied Carlos with enormous quantities of drugs.

With his help, Carlos had supplied drugs throughout the Philippines and raked in money hand over fist.

However, after being struck by Vice Chairman Wei Chen, Chen Zhihui had been forced to flee to the Philippines, cutting off the supply.

As a result, Carlos had been forced to import drugs at high prices from a syndicate based in Indonesia.

And Chen Zhihui needed an enormous amount of money to seize control of the Triad.

So he had no reason to refuse the proposal.

“I’ll supply you with enough drugs for you to live more than comfortably.”

“Ha-ha-ha! It’s a deal.”

Carlos grinned in satisfaction, raised his glass, and took a sip.

A moment later, after setting the empty glass on the table, he tried to change the subject.

“Vice Chairman Chen, when will the North Korean submarines arrive off the coast of Iligan?”

“I contacted Captain Choi Dongcheol, who is leading the North Korean submarines, last night. He said they would arrive by six tomorrow evening at the latest.”

“They’ll arrive earlier than expected?”

“Just think of it as me giving RGB Director Kim Changho quite a headache.”

Of course, that was a lie.

Even so, Vice Chairman Chen Zhihui lied so casually because he had a particular objective.

“I fully understand how hard you’re working, Vice Chairman Chen.”

“I’ll tell you what I discussed with RGB Director Kim this afternoon, so listen carefully.”

“Go ahead.”

“He asked me to give him half the missile import price in cash.”

Carlos tilted his head in confusion.

According to the contract, payment for importing the missiles was supposed to be transferred to Vice Chairman Chen Zhihui.

But contrary to the terms of the agreement, Reconnaissance General Bureau Director Kim Changho was demanding that half the amount be paid in cash.

Carlos directly asked why such a condition had been imposed.

“I was curious myself, so I asked RGB Director Kim. He said it was a direct order from Leader Kim Jonghun.”

“A personal order from Leader Kim?”

“Keep this strictly between us. Leader Kim had secret funds in Switzerland, but the CIA confiscated them. Because of that, he’s suffering from a severe shortage of funds for running the country.”

“Ah, now I understand.”

“In any case, can you prepare half the missile price in cash?”

Carlos’s temples began to throb.

He had signed a contract with Vice Chairman Chen Zhihui to import sixty North Korean missiles and launchers worth five hundred million dollars.

That meant he needed to prepare two hundred and fifty million dollars in cash.

If he had enough time, he could have obtained the money without any problem, but he had only one day left.

However, if he said it was impossible to gather the cash, he would receive neither the missiles nor the launchers.

“The most I can prepare in cash right now is one hundred million dollars.”

“Hmm... Well, it can’t be helped. I’ll prepare the remaining one hundred and fifty million dollars myself.”

“You can really do that?”

“Of course. But in exchange, you’ll transfer the remaining amount to me immediately after taking delivery of the missiles and launchers.”

“You don’t need to worry about that.”

“Now, on to the second matter. The North Korean submarines are running low on fuel. We need to refuel them during the handover of the missiles and launchers.”

“Weren’t they supposed to carry enough fuel to return to North Korea?”

Vice Chairman Chen Zhihui knew why the North Korean submarines had arrived with their fuel tanks only half full.

Because of UN sanctions, North Korea depended almost entirely on fuel supplies from China.

However, after Kim Jonghun grew closer to Russia, the fuel import channels from China had been cut off.

There was still the route through Russia, but problems had arisen there as well.

Russian oil refineries had come under attack from Ukraine, reducing their operating capacity.

Because of that, Russia could not supply North Korea with the required amount of fuel on time.

As a result, North Korea was suffering from an extremely severe fuel crisis.

Still, he had no intention of laying out every detail of North Korea’s desperate situation for Carlos.

“You’re right, Mr. Carlos, but there are reasons for it.”

“And what are those?”

“The missiles and launchers are very heavy. If the submarines had been completely filled with fuel, their speed would have dropped considerably, so their tanks were only filled halfway.”

“Ah, I see. We’ll prepare the fuel.”

“I’d be very grateful. What time should we leave for Iligan tomorrow?”

“Considering how bad the roads are, we’ll have to leave no later than one in the afternoon.”

Ring-a-ling-ling!

Vice Chairman Chen Zhihui’s cell phone, which was lying on the table, burst into a melodious ringtone.

He looked at the screen, recognized the caller, apologized to Carlos, and pressed the answer button.

“Captain Choi Dongcheol, I’m listening.”

“Vice Chairman Chen, something has come up, so we’ve been delayed and won’t be able to arrive on time.”

“Tell me what happened.”

“The submarines’ propellers became tangled in nets set by fishermen.”

“Well, I’ll be damned...”

“So our arrival time will be delayed.”

“It can’t be helped. Call me again once you’ve untangled the nets.”

Click.

The instant he hung up, Carlos immediately jumped in with a question.

“Vice Chairman Chen, what happened?”

“Well, you see... The nets set by fishermen...”

***

At the same time.

I was passing the time chatting with NIS Director Om Giyeon, Vice Chairman Wei Chen, and the others.

“Vice Chairman Wei, where is the pursuit team that Politburo member Liu Peiqi sent after Director Go Yeongjun now?”

“They’re wandering around somewhere in Davao.”

“There are plenty of other cities around. Why did they go there of all places?”

“Davao is the largest city on Mindanao. They must have taken into account that a lot of Koreans live there. By the way, should we lure them here?”

I could see right through Vice Chairman Wei Chen’s intentions.

He wanted to lure those men here and wipe them out completely.

But I had other ideas.

“We’re not blood enemies with them. Why bother calling them here?”

“Well, if you say so, I suppose it can’t be helped,” Vice Chairman Wei Chen replied unhappily, grumbling under his breath.

Sensing that the atmosphere had become a little awkward, I decided to change the subject.

“Thank you for understanding. How are the gold negotiations between Politburo member Liu and Chairman Zhen going?”

“They’re still refusing to budge.”

Politburo member Liu Peiqi was negotiating with Chairman Zhen Weiliang to purchase fourteen tons of gold.

Zhen Weiliang had offered him a three-percent discount from the LBMA price.

In response, Liu Peiqi was demanding a five-percent discount.

Naturally, I had a solution for putting an end to this battle of pride.

After excusing myself to everyone present, I called Chairman Zhen Weiliang.

After several rings, his tired voice came through.

“Director Cha, I’m listening.”

“Were you... sleeping?”

“No. Liu has simply worn me out, so don’t worry about it.”

“I see. What if you accepted Politburo member Liu’s demands?”

“Absolutely not!”

The international price of one kilogram of gold was around eight hundred and fifty thousand dollars.

Accordingly, one percent amounted to roughly one hundred and twenty million dollars, or about one hundred and seventy billion won.

That was why Chairman Zhen Weiliang rejected the idea so firmly.

“Chairman Zhen, even if you’re against it, hear me out to the end before making your decision.”

“All right. I’m listening.”

“Tomorrow, the global price of gold will rise by roughly five percent.”

“Is that true?!”

“Of course.”

“I’d like to know where that confidence comes from.”

This evening, during a phone call with Chairman Bongard, I had told him about the war of words between Liu Peiqi and Zhen Weiliang.

And while I was at it, I asked him to raise the global price of gold by roughly five percent.

Naturally, I hadn’t forgotten to offer him something in return.

After hearing my request, he agreed and hung up.

I told Chairman Zhen Weiliang the entire story without hiding anything.

“...For Chairman Bongard, raising the global price of gold by five percent is child’s play.”

“I don’t doubt that.”

“Will you grant my request now?”

“What choice do I have? I suppose I will.”

“Ha-ha. Excellent. Now you can sleep peacefully.”

Click.

The moment I ended the call, Vice Chairman Wei Chen, who had been listening with his ears perked up the entire time, immediately spoke.

“Chairman Zhen accepted your proposal, Director Cha?”

“Of course.”

“I’m terribly curious how you managed to convince him.”

“The global price of a kilogram of gold is around eight hundred and fifty thousand dollars. If Chairman Zhen sells fourteen tons of gold at a three-percent discount, he’ll receive eleven and a half billion dollars. But if the price rises by five percent, then even with a four-percent discount, he’ll make around twelve billion dollars.”

“Ah, now I understand!”

At that moment, apparently deciding that our conversation was over, Director Pan Kai joined in.

“Director Cha, what benefit did you offer Chairman Bongard in return?”

“I advised him to secretly buy gold futures.”

“I see! Can we buy gold futures too?”

“Do whatever you want. But on one condition: tomorrow evening, you must completely sell off all your positions.”

“Why exactly then?”

“Tomorrow evening, Chairman Bongard intends to completely close out his gold futures positions.”

Director Pan Kai found that strange.

Chairman Bongard was famous for his greed.

For a man like that to invest in gold for a mere five-percent profit... Wasn’t that suspicious?

He asked Cha Jiham what he thought about it.

“Chairman Bongard intends to pour fifty billion dollars into the gold futures market. Locking in a profit of two and a half billion dollars in just one day is more than enough for him.”

“Well, that certainly brings the saying to mind: ‘Better for a pumpkin to roll over once than for sesame seeds to fart a hundred times.’”

“Ha-ha-ha!”

We burst into loud laughter at Director Pan Kai’s witty remark.

Once the laughter died down, NIS Director Om Giyeon asked in confusion.

“Director Cha, with Chairman Bongard’s capabilities, couldn’t he raise the global price of gold by more than five percent?”

“The maximum amount Politburo member Liu can raise is around twelve billion dollars. If the gold price rises by more than five percent, he simply won’t be able to buy Chairman Zhen’s entire amount.”

“Ah, I see. But why is Chairman Bongard closing his futures positions tomorrow evening?”

“To sprinkle salt on Politburo member Liu’s sugar.”

NIS Director Om Giyeon seemed to understand Cha Jiham’s plan.

The moment Chairman Bongard sold off all his futures positions, gold prices would begin to fall.

And once that happened, Liu Peiqi, who had bought gold at the highest possible price, would simply writhe in frustration and rage.

Wanting to confirm his guess, he cautiously asked about it.

“Your guess is exactly right, Director Om.”

“I can already picture Liu Peiqi writhing with envy and fury.”

“Ha-ha-ha! Exactly.”

Bzzzz...

At that moment, the phone lying on the table vibrated.

I picked it up and looked at the screen.

Director Griffin was calling.

After telling the others who it was, I pressed the answer button.

“I’m listening, Director Griffin.”

“Director Cha, we’ve got a situation... The North Korean submarines got caught in nets set by Filipino fishermen.”

“...What!? Is that true?!”

“Ah-ha-ha-ha!”

In response to my question, Director Griffin’s booming laughter came through the phone.